Abstract

The intensification of contaminants in the marine environment has made marine and coastal pollution a global issue in recent years. Due to the presence of toxic organic compounds, the release of crude oil into the marine environment during exploitation and transportation results in significant environmental pollution. Crude oil, the world’s most common energy source, is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that contains aromatics, naphthenes, resins, and more than 70% alkanes. Due to its non-volatile nature, the crude oil’s long chain alkanes remain persistent and pose a significant threat to marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Biodegradation has emerged as a promising and cost-effective method for remediating oil spills. It offers an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and effective remedy for both on-shore and offshore oil spills. Using a biosurfactant-producing microorganism known as Bacillus subtilis, the present study investigates the maximum degradation of crude oil. Crude oil was degraded with the help of Bacillus subtilis, which was isolated from a polymer dump site in Chennai, India. In just ten days, crude oil degradation and viscosity reduction were observed to be 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The potential of the microorganism for oil spill treatment is demonstrated by its high microbial adherence, surface tension reduction, emulsification activity, and production of a greater quantity of biosurfactant, stability of the produced biosurfactant under extreme environmental conditions, viscosity reduction, and high rate of degradation.